By Paul A. Reid, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE INTER-SECONDARY Schools Sports Association (ISSA) will propose to split the Victoria Mutual Building Society's Boys and Girls National High School Athletics Championships between the G.C. Foster Sports College and Sabina Park in mid-April.
The Gleaner understands the chairman of ISSA, Clement Radcliffe, will make that proposal at this morning's extra-ordinary general meeting of the association at the University of Technology. The meeting is expected to be attended by principals and coaches of the schools taking part in the championships.
International Amateur Athletics Federation's (IAAF) area representative and former president of the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA), Neville 'Teddy' McCook said on Tuesday that he understood a letter from ISSA had been sent to the owners of Sabina Park asking for permission to use their facilities to host part of the championships.
He said he had asked for a survey of the property at Sabina Park to determine if an eight-lane 400 metres track or at least a 300 metres track could be put in place. He said he hoped the survey would be completed in time for today's meeting.
McCook was in western Jamaica as part of a delegation which accompanied the Queen's Jubilee Baton on its worldwide tour to help promote the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England later this year.
The proposal, McCook said, would be to host the field events and early eliminations at G.C. Foster before moving to Sabina Park for the last three days.
On the question of running the meet on grass at Sabina Park after having the eliminations on the artificial surface at G.C. Foster and with the World Junior Championships coming up in July, McCook said the proposal was only a "stop-gap measure."
Another option, one that Mr. McCook said he endorsed himself, was to combine the Championships along with the National Trials in June.
"If we do this," he said, "the people who have been staying away from National Trials, coming to Champs and seeing the atmosphere of what really comes out of a National Trials would be satisfied and would want to come back and support Trials in the future."
